Mr. Hwang to the World: Bring My Father Home

A big thank you to former TNKR intern Priscilla McCelvey for this touching and insightful piece on Mr. Hwang’s crusade and journey:

August 30, 2016: At the Freedom Bridge between North and South Korea, during a recent rally for the return of his father, Hwang In-cheol sings a traditional Korean song about missing your home, longing for your hometown. His voice is soothing and stable, almost as if a breeze could carry it, a metaphorical reach across the world’s most militarized border to try and connect with his father. The lyrics of the song are the last words any South Korean has heard from former MBC television producer Hwang Won. While imprisoned against his will in North Korea, he sang the song in protest. In response, North Korean government officials dragged him away; no one has seen him since.

All the while, Hwang In-cheol has spent most of his adult life fighting for the return of his father, who was abducted by the North Korean government on December 11, 1969. Mr. Hwang was two years old, and his father was thirty-two. On that day, a North Korean agent hijacked Korean Airlines Plane (KAL) YS-11 while en route to Seoul, taking 50 people with him across the border into North Korea. Since then, 39 of the people have been returned, the remaining eleven’s fate still unknown. Continue reading at Pax Politica.